A makeshift memorial for victims near the site of the Boston Marathon bombings. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

April 23, 2013

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1. Al Qaeda is not the only threatJames R. Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told the House Intelligence Committee the week before the Boston bombings: "The threat from al Qaeda and the potential for a massive coordinated attack on the United States may be diminished, but the jihadist movement is more diffuse... Lone wolves, domestic extremists, and jihad-inspired affiliated groups are still determined to attack Western interests."

The suspected Boston bombers turned out to be of Chechen descent. Chechen terrorists have perpetrated terrible attacks on the Russian mainland in recent years, including a 2004 school massacre that left hundreds of children dead. If you look at the timeline, the question lingers as to when Boston suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was radicalized. Was it during his 2012 trip to Russia, or by someone in the U.S.? Regardless, we don't know what the Boston suspects' motives were, or what cause they were fighting for. We do seem to know this, though: The Boston attack was not perpetrated by al Qaeda. It's a reminder that the list of terrorist groups is long — and many of them are domestic.

2. The FBI and foreign governments must do betterReports say Russian intelligence told the FBI that Tamerlan was a follower of radical Islam, and the FBI questioned him. Some say the FBI dropped the ball, and didn't even know about a 2011 trip abroad because Tamerlan's name was misspelled. Others argue that Russia should have done more, too. Both the Clinton and Bush administrations have been criticized for not connecting the dots leading up to 9/11, and now the Obama administration must confront similar criticism over the Boston bombings.

3. You are being watched — and it's hard to hidePerhaps the most stunning aspect of the Boston Marathon bombing saga was how quickly today's technology allowed law enforcement to assemble an array of videos and photos. Surveillance cameras are everywhere. Digital cameras are in all of our pockets. Thermal imaging helped a helicopter find and capture the final suspect. In America in 2013, you can run, but you can't hide.

Despite some factually incorrect and, at times, seemingly intentionally fake tweets, Twitter was way ahead of the TV networks, and was the way to follow the dramatic shootouts and the two suspects' respective falls. On CNN, Mediaite columnist Joe Concha declared "there are now six news networks... CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox, and Twitter."